ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 145, © 2006
No reprints without permission

The folks at Bird & Cage aim to provide bird keepers with a great selection of good quality birdcages and accessories for great prices, along with some of the best customer service you will find anywhere, and their customers all agree, they do a great job!

They've provided a lovely wrought-iron canary flight cage for part of the grand prize in our photo contest, as you can see here .

You can save 20% every day, in the Sidewalk Sale of overstocked cages. On the rest of the site you will find breeding cages, cage accessories, stands, and some of the best flight cages anywhere. There's even free shipping to the continental US!

A recent customer says,"I just wanted to let you know that I am THRILLED with the brass round cage 7530 and stand 4530 I ordered for my parakeet, Pedro. He is now able to be in the living room with all of us and he loves chatting and singing along with the music on TV or the piano when I play. Your service was AWESOME - I received the products in less than a week and the cage and stand are beautiful. Thank you!"

For a full selection of cages and cage accessories, visit BirdandCage.com.

Help Needed
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Do you know of a great bird site which deserves a review? Maybe you have a favourite tip or trick that you like to use, or know of a product that has made your bird's life better or easier to manage in some way? Why not share them with other readers? Send us tales of how you cope, or how your birds confuse and puzzle, interest and amuse you, and we will share them with the rest of our readers in a future issue. Just send an email here.

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"I ordered 'Canary Tales' by Linda Hogan last year...Although I fully recommend buying the book, I find Robirda's book much more complete, easier to read with less difficulty finding information."

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Welcome to Robirda's Companion Bird eZine
Flock Talk!
For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

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Website News; More contest bird photos added, add yours too!
Canary Song CD: "Encourage more singing for a new lower price!
Sponsor's Space: See contest prize, save $ on overstock, more!
Help Needed: Share favourite sites, tips, products & stories.
Feature Article: Air Sac Mites; Correctly diagnose and treat.
Handy Links: Our latest list of links to major areas onsite.
For You & Your Birds: We couldn't do any of this without you!
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Website News

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We have close to 3 dozen photos entered into our 150th issue Flock Talk Photo Contest, and we're looking forward to receiving lots more! You will be able to submit your photos until midnight on July 3rd, 2006.

Submit as many photos as you wish, of any kind of pet or breeder bird, tame or not, the more the merrier! Just remember to put 'Flock Photo Contest' into the subject line of each entry, and accompany each photo with a short description.

Voting will commence on July 4th, and run until midnight on July 14th. The winners will be announced in Flock Talk's 150th issue, Sunday, July 16th, 2006.

There's some fantastic bird-keeper's prizes to be won; in fact we've got over $800 US dollars worth of prize packages! So send in your best bird photos, and find out when voting starts if others find your birds as beautiful as you do!

You can see the photos that have already been entered by visiting robirda.com/flockphotos

You'll find all contest details, including links to our contest sponsors and directions on how to submit your photos, posted at robirda.com/contest.html

Feature Article

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Of all the pests that can infect canaries, these tiny mites are among the most misunderstood. It's true that most owners know of their existence, but it's also true that many believe that every time they see a bird having difficulty in breathing, the problem is due to the presence of air sac mites. So what's the real story behind these tiny pests, and how can you learn to tell whether or not your bird really has...

Air Sac Mites

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © May 2006

Air sac mites are tiny insects belonging to the spider family that prefer to live inside a bird's lungs, particularly in the air sacs and windpipe. Here they can cling to the air sac walls, finding plentiful warmth, moisture, and easy opportunities to feed and lay their eggs.

Canaries and Lady Gouldian Finches tend to be more susceptible than many other passerines to this tiny, difficult-to-diagnose pest, and are more often found to be infected with air sac mites than most other species commonly kept as pets.

Even birds of these two species won't be bothered by a few air sac mites, but over time the infestation can grow to be quite serious, as the mites become more plentiful. When that happens, their constant feeding will gradually weaken the bird. This is exacerbated by the fact that their presence in the bird's lungs and air sacs acts to prevent proper breathing, reducing the amount of oxygen available to the blood supply.

At this point, a dry, almost rasping clicking sound may be heard as the bird breathes in and out, if it is held next to the ear. It's most often a rather quiet sound, not loud enough to be easily heard unless the bird's beak is very near the ear. This small clicking sound is often considered to be symptomatic of air sac mite infestation, and it is common to hear of canary and finch keepers medicating their birds for air sac mites on this symptom alone.

However, it should be noted that other lung and air sac problems can cause similar, sometimes louder, sounds, so in fact, a bird whose breathing produces these clicking noises could actually have a lung infection of some kind, whether bacterial or fungal in nature. Lack of adequate vitamin A in the diet can also cause the lungs and air sacs to produce excess mucous, this too may cause the bird to produce a clicking sound as it breathes.

This means that a clearer diagnosis should be sought before medicating any bird for the presence of air sac mites. Any infestation of these mites in a bird's body has to be fairly substantial before these small clicks can be heard in the breathing. That in turn means that it should be possible to verify the air sac mite infestation by shining a small, bright, very focused light over the windpipe or just behind and below the eye.

If the light is bright enough, it should be possible to spot small, pepper-sized grains of darkness within the windpipe, or just under the skin behind and below the eyes. If you watch long enough, you may see these small black 'grains' moving about. A careful examination in either or both of these locations should produce definitive verification of air sac mite presence, as long as the light is very bright, with a small, focused beam.

When asked about dealing with and treating air sac mites and their symptoms, long-time canary breeder Julio Valella, a member of the Lone Star State Canary Club, said, "Observation by microscope of actual mites in saliva samples or the observation of tiny dark spots in the airsac tracks just under the skin below and behind the eyes under a careful exam with a strong light are generally acknowledged as the more accurate diagnosis. It takes two trained people to do this. Simply listening to 'clicking sounds' is not enough.

"There are other causes of 'clicking sounds', and all indicate respiratory system problems. Clicking can also be chronic, caused by scar tissue remaining from prior airsac mites or other infections; viral, bacterial, or fungal. Most infections of the canary air passages cause lesions in the soft moist internal tissues that when they heal create scar tissues. When the bird is stressed and breathing heavily and rapidly, or is sleeping and breathing cooler air that constricts the air passages, the scar tissue restricted passage can produce 'clicking sounds'.

"When the 'clicking sound' is caused by this old, established and stable, scar tissue there is simply no treatment that will eliminate or 'cure' the 'clicking sound'. Many breeders have experienced owning such a bird, that for years while a 'clicker' was healthy, fertile, productive, and otherwise normal.

"Other causes of 'clicking' can occur, such as a bacterial infection that causes air passages to fill and drip a clear liquid, that often dries up around the nostrils and leaves a chalky residue upon drying. Some stressful digestive infections can lead to depressed immune system and air passage congestion caused by improper hydration, mainly a partially dehydrated bird will suffer from lack of enough natural and normal moisture in the air passages that in turn triggers an over production of mucous fluid in the frontal passage directly behind the nostrils, and that can cause 'clicking'.

"So, a thorough overall exam and diagnosis of the bird is needed first. If any signs of digestive or respiratory infection are observed, sample cultures and/or immediate microscope slide observations of the feces, the saliva and any nostril discharge should be done.

"NOT all offending pathogens will be observed but mites will, and also any other parasites. The cultures should be observed and also tested for gram positive & gram negative susceptibility to determine an indicated effective antibiotic, IF ANY.

"Based on the observed conditions, and diagnosis (if any), a treatment regimen can then be defined.

"Of course all this is well beyond what most hobbyists and breeders can afford or will do. So, typically the few things that can be done and may help are:

Isolate the bird, another room altogether is best. Prevent spreading the problem.

Provide warmth and draft free, sheltered, stress free rest. Increase sleep (rest) hours slightly.

CLEAN the cage daily, if there is any liquid droppings clean out paper at least twice daily!

ENSURE bird is fully hydrated, observe amount of water taken up daily to verify. IF compatible with treatment add juicy, high calorie fruit treats. Watermelon, sweet orange... These help hydrate, add calories, improve appetite, and acidify the gut, all benefits.

Feed a high calorie, easy to digest and very nourishing supplement. The favorite is couscous laced with royal honey jelly or powdered bee pollen. Provide ample, varied, fresh food and monitor the bird IS eating well. The goal is to get the bird to INCREASE caloric intake and if possible gain strength & weight.

When there is evidence of digestive problems, somewhat similar to 'going light', add treatment with a bird specific supplement (acidic, with minimal 4 live active cultures, and enzymes).

"This regimen, cleaning, and observation followed for about a week often yields full recovery. The bird should remain segregated for another 21 days to verify full recovery and no relapse.

"Remember, when the bird has old scar tissue and is a chronic 'clicker', it will be found to be in very robust fit shape upon examination, often looking ready for the show bench, yet it may still 'click at night'."

How birds manage to contract these mites is another often-discussed subject amongst bird keepers, as is what to do about a possible infestation; once the presence of air sac mites has been verified, recommended treatments can vary quite a lot, depending on who you're talking to.

So we went looking for the definitive answers to these two questions from the professionals; avian veterinarians. We were referred to the article on air sac mites at exoticpetvet.net, which states, "Transmission is thought to occur from the bird coughing the mites up into the mouth, or by the mites crawling into the mouth, where they are wiped from the beak by a bird during feeding or rubbing the beak along perches, where they may be transferred to another bird. A parent bird may pass mites to its offspring through feeding. The article adds,

The article adds, "Treatment by an avian veterinarian may be attempted using invermectin, dosed precisely. However, if a large number of mites all die at one time, this may cause a fatal reaction in the infested bird.

"All birds in a room with a bird diagnosed with air sac mites and treated with Ivermectin should be treated at 10 day intervals for at least three doses. A cage containing infested birds should be thoroughly disinfected."

Another method of treatment, claimed by many to be as effective as Ivermectin without the need for retreatment, entails the use of the product 'Scatt'. This product is based on moxidectin, a close relative of ivermectin. Birds treated with 'Scatt' are often thought to need only one treatment, as unlike Ivermectin, Scatt will stay in the bloodstream for two or three weeks or more.

However, the idea that only one treatment is needed could be misleading in some cases, as Julio Valella notes, "...airsac mites can 'come back' even after a proper and effective treatment. That's simply because it's very difficult to achieve 100% kill. If any adults are not killed by treatment, or if any eggs and/or larvae survive to hatch out later, a reinfestation can emerge. That is why often retreatment is recommended within 4 weeks of a diagnosed infestation."

Many avian veterinarians believe this pernicious pest to be less common, even in canaries and Lady Gouldian Finches, than is believed by many bird-keepers. As we've discussed, the symptom of clicking may be interpreted as indicative of an infestation of air sac mites, when the actual cause is something else. But in cases where the problem has been verified to actually be caused by these pests, understanding the situation, how to diagnose it, and what can and should be done about it, can be invaluable.

My preference would be that no bird should ever have to suffer from these difficult-to-see pests, nor should any bird keeper ever have to agonize over what to do about them. But if you should ever come to suspect that your bird has contracted air sac mites, it is our hope that you will find this article helpful in resolving your questions.

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © May 2006

Song CD
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Do you like to keep your canaries singing? Our CD of Robirda's canaries in full song encourages pet canaries to sing, and is a popular choice for many canary owners. But its potential uses don't end there! It can help to call wild birds to your feeders, or make your pet parrots more comfortable in their surroundings.

Best of all, we've now sold enough CDs to allow us to offer you a new low price! We get a great deal of positive comments from happy customers, so we're sure you'll be pleased. A recent customers tells us:

"Your CD is playing right now and my bird room is going crazy - in a good way! We have cockatiels, parrotlet, budgies and 2 canaries, and we want to assist the canaries with their song, which is why I purchased your CD. Years ago I had a CD for canaries but it had muzak in the background and was awfully annoying to listen to. With yours we can play it in the yard, in the house... wherever all day long and not get sick of it."

Find out more about our Canary Song CD, here!

For You & Your Birds, With Love
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We rely on YOU to help keep this publication and its associated websites alive. If you find help you need in this ezine or on one of our websites, please consider joining our sponsors.

Read testimonials or find out more about becoming a sponsor, here. If you're looking for something different, check our home page for links to all our great products!

Our next issue is due Sunday, May 21st. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we look forward to seeing you all then!

Robirda
Feb 26, 2006
Kelowna, BC, Canada

"You have the most informative and helpful small bird site on the Web. I have found your information priceless and inspiring."

"Just a short note to tell you how great your ezine is... As a long time bird lover I thank you for your wonderful mag. Keep up the great work!"

"Everyone always asks me why my birds are such beautiful singers and breed such magnificent babies...I tell them that I learned from Robirda! While they give their birds all kinds of 'magical' formulas, I just follow your guide to 'keep it simple.' My birds are now very healthy, and there has been no recurrence of the infection. Thank Goodness!" R.C., Florida

"Hi Robirda! Thanks for your thoughts. My little one is singing as loudly as ever. He looks much better today. Your advice was most welcome; I'm particularly grateful about the recipes! I sent you the same amount the vet charged me; you have done no less than he did. You are a real blessing to all of us canary lovers the world over."

"Thank you so much for the book on canaries. That is a really nice book. I needed one, because I bought my Mom two canaries, a male and a female, we don't know anything about them. I'm so glad to have this book, I couldn't believe how much was in there. Thank you so much!"